


Marinette is Ladybug, Ladybug is Marinette

by defenestratable



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya-centric, Friendship, Gen, How does one fanfic?, I suppose, Identity Reveal, It's not Alyanette, Sorry :P
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 10:39:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10305050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defenestratable/pseuds/defenestratable
Summary: It's Marinette.Alya can’t believe it, but the evidence is undeniable. She knows what she’s just seen: her greatest idol Ladybug slinking behind a dusty building, her outfit dissolving into shimmers of light until all that’s left is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.In which Alya discovers Ladybug's identity and struggles a bit about what to do.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, world of fanfiction! I'm back for a second run >:)

Marinette.

Marinette is Ladybug.

Alya can’t believe it, but the evidence is undeniable. She knows what she’s just seen: her greatest idol Ladybug slinking behind a dusty building, her outfit dissolving into shimmers of light until all that’s left is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

Marinette, Alya’s best friend.

After all this time, she finally knows Ladybug’s identity. But it’s her _best friend_. Her best friend is the heroine of Paris.

Ladybug.

Ladybug is Marinette.

And Alya doesn’t know how to react.

* * *

Eventually, she decides to wait a few days — sort out her emotions before acting on Ladybug’s identity. Alya usually has a habit of rushing into decisions, but she knows that this is far too important. Instead, she tackles it the same way she’d tackle a particularly difficult news story: methodical planning.

 **Step 1:** Step away from the Ladyblog. Reporting on her best friend is slightly weird, and it’s a constant reminder of how oblivious she's been.

 **Step 2:** Observe. Marinette is Ladybug, but is she really Ladybug? (After two days, the answer is clearly yes. Both have blue eyes, a small physique, a hatred for Chloé, and a pet peeve for liars. She really should’ve seen it coming.)

And finally:

 **Step 3:** Confront Marinette.  


Well.

Alya isn’t quite there yet. _Really_ , she thinks, _how does someone even go about that conversation? Oh. by the way, I found out you’re a modern magic girl and I spend 30 hours every week blogging about you and stalking you around Paris. But look, I’m your best friend. Why did you keep this from me? Why did you let me stumble around in the dark, grasping for threads that were right in front of me?_

_Why don’t you trust me?_

Alya tries not to, but she withdraws from her friends. She spends her long lunches in the library and says she’s too busy to head over to the Dupain-Cheng’s.  


(Really, she’s too hurt.)

* * *

_Crash._ The windowpanes break into fragments, littering Ms. Bustier’s classroom floor with glass shards. The akuma, a woman dressed in cotton candy colors, hovers viciously outside the school. 

There’s screaming, and everyone in Alya’s class quickly evacuates to the hallway. There, things are quiet, and she has a perfect vantage point of the fight outside. Immediately, Alya’s on her feet.

Fish out her phone: accomplished.

Find the best angle for video: done.

Open the Ladyblog, start the recording—

Alya stops, her finger hovering over the button. She’d be recording her best friend for all the world to see. And, well…

“This way!” Marinette suddenly yells, pointing everyone down the hall. “There’s a big supply room over there. Everyone needs to get in. Don’t make a sound!”

The other students immediately sprint down the hallway. (Even Chloé follows suit once she sees the akuma fight raging across the street.) But Alya’s frozen in place, only vaguely seeing Adrien run off in the opposite direction and Ms. Bustier grab Marinette by the arm.

“Come on, Marinette, there’s no time to waste. Let’s go!” Ms. Bustier insists.

Marinette gapes, at a loss for words. “B-B-But Ms. Bustier, my coat’s still in the s-science lab. I have to—”

“No,” Ms. Bustier responds sternly. “Your safety comes first.”

Ms. Bustier starts pulling Marinette down the hall, and it’s only then that Alya realizes what’s about to happen. Ladybug will be trapped in a room with twenty-some classmates, unable to transform for fear of revealing her identity. The akuma will rampage the city streets, and even if Chat Noir can defeat her on his own, how will the victim be returned to normal?

The weight of the city is on Marinette’s shoulders. Whatever Marinette's reasons are for keeping her out of the loop, Alya decides they’re irrelevant right now. Paris is currently at stake.

“Ms. Bustier!” Alya shouts. Hopefully, her lie will be convincing enough. “I left my inhaler in the library. I _need_ to go get it, or I could have an attack, and—”

Ms. Bustier frowns. She glances down the hall at the supply room where the other students have gathered. “I can’t be in two places at once… ”

“You don’t have to be!” Alya says, yanking Marinette by the arm. “Mari can take me to the library while you watch the class. Buddy system, right? We’ll be right back. Two minutes!”

Without another word, she and Marinette have left a mostly satisfied Ms. Bustier in the dust. They’re racing up the stairs to the library, but once they enter, Marinette is still looking around nervously, searching for a way out.

“Uh… Alya, I didn’t know you had asthma,” Marinette says.

“I don’t.” Alya puts her hands on Marinette’s shoulders. “Girl, I know you’re Ladybug.”

Marinette stares at her with wide eyes. “Me? Ladybug? N-No way!”

“You don’t need to hide it, Mari. I saw you transform a few days back,” Alya admits, looking away.

“D-Does anyone else know? Is it on the Ladyblog?” Marinette whispers, horrified.

“What?! Of course not. I’d never! It’s your secret, and if you didn’t even tell _me…_ ” Alya looks up, taking a deep breath, “you must have a really good reason. I’d never spill your secrets, girl.”

“S-So you’re okay?”

Alya smiles. “I am now. Totally.”

Marinette immediately crushes her best friend in a hug. “Al, you’re the best,” she says.

“Yeah, yeah. But I want the details later. _All_ of them. Don’t leave out a single thing.”

“Wouldn’t think of it.” Marinette laughs.

Alya pulls out of the hug. “Now go get that akuma, girl!” she says, raising a fist in the air.

Marinette sets her eyes, determined. “All right. Tikki, transforme-moi!”

Alya watches in awe as something flies out from Marinette’s bag and into her earrings. With a blinding flash of light, her best friend has disappeared and Ladybug is in her place.

“Take care, Alya! You should stay in the library until the fight’s over,” Ladybug advises before she cracks open a window and leaps out into the street.

And as Marinette leaves, Alya realizes that they still have a lot to sort out. There’s the question of the Ladyblog, the creature that’s just flown into Marinette’s earring, and what this means for their friendship.

But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Alya, tomorrow:** WAIT, DO I SHIP HER WITH ADRIEN OR CHAT NOIR?
> 
> Whoo, congrats (and thanks) for making it to the end! 
> 
> Any comments or criticisms? I've never been too good with writing characters' emotions :P


End file.
